Some Private school teachers in Kabayi area of Nasarawa State have censured the continuous closure of schools as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic.
The teachers voiced out, when the team from the Media Advocacy West Africa (MAWA) Foundation payed a visit on Tuesday. They lamented untold hardships due to non-payment of salaries for over five months.
According to the teachers, private schools solely relied on school fees of pupils and students to pay it’s workers. They pleaded with the Federal Government to put in place the modalities that would fast track the reopening of schools.
Mrs Gloria Ngwobia, a staff of Kings Crown International School, Kabayi, revealed that she had not received salaries for the last five months.
She said that life had been very difficult for her and her family since schools were shut down.
“The advent of COVID-19 has stagnated a lot of things; it has also inflicted huge hardships particularly on private school teachers.
“Schools are still closed, we have not been paid for over five months and this has thrown many of us into serious hardships.
“We are calling on the federal government to fast track the process and ensure all schools are reopened to enable us make a living,” she urged.
Miss Joyce Samuel, another private school teacher, told the MAWA team that she basically survives on begging and the goodwill of friends.
Samuel decried that a lot of private school teachers were languishing in hunger and squalor. She called on government to intervene in order to ameliorate the worsening situation.
“Private school teachers are the most hit by this pandemic, and considering the kind of work we do, the government needs to have serious consideration for this category of workers.
“Education is the foundation of every society and the quality of education a nation gets is dependent on how teachers are being taken care of,” she said.
MAWA foundation, with support from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), is implementing a project tagged “Human Right Abuse and Economic Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown in Communities”.
Read also: ASUU Calls On FG To Pay Arrears Of Salaries Of Members
